1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to a system and method for making a co-filled product.
2. Description of Related Art
Extrusion of products of various profile shapes is usually accomplished by extruding through, for example, wide orifices to produce a sheet of extrudate or as another example, through an annular orifice to produce a tubular extrudate. As used herein a channel is a pipe-like feature or conduit through which product can flow, which is located within an extruder die, and which is in fluid communication with an associated orifice. Extrusion dies having multiple extrusion orifices and radial placement are widely used to make direct expanded products to achieve industrial production rates. After product is extruded it is often cut with a rotating cutting blade. Often the rotating cutting blade rotates at great speeds.
It is desirable to produce an extruded product which has a filling. The filling can add a new flavor, texture, etc. to an extruded product. Manufacturing an extruded product which comprises a filling has proven difficult as the cutting blade often pierces the filling causing it to explode or leak from the extruded product. Consequently, it is desirable to have a system and method for producing a co-filled extruded product that does not result in the exploding or leaking of the filling.